Russian & Eurasian Studies 211 - Topic: Culture of the Cold War

No other historical event so affected the psyche of the post-WWII world as the standoff between 'The Free World' and 'The Evil Empire.' This course brings two bitter enemies − the Soviet Union and the United States - back together in a final battle. Like the Cold War, this one will be fought through proxies: the literary, cinematic, and cultural texts of the two Super Powers. It addresses the ideologies and paranoia that divided the world into an 'us' and a 'them,' and the terror and lunacy that the bomb, spy mania, and witch-hunts evoked. What was it like to loathe and be drawn to 'the enemy'? What are the sources of 'Cold War nostalgia'? Are there connections between the Cold War and the current political climate?